BY HUGH BAILEY
Hearst Connecticut Media
Connecticut’s unemployment rate fell in April even as the number of people with jobs in the state hardly changed. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was measured at 6.3 percent, down one-tenth of a percentage point from the March estimate.
Connecticut added 1,200 jobs, or 0.1 percent, to state payrolls in April, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The numbers are seasonally adjusted.
“This was a relatively quiet month in the job market, with mixed results across the state’s major industry sectors,” Andy Condon, director of the state Labor Department’s Office of Research, said in a statement. “Continuing job growth combined with improving wages appears to be attracting more job seekers into the labor market.”
The state unemployment rate remains significantly higher than national figures. The U.S. jobless rate in April was 5.4 percent, its lowest mark since May 2008.
Connecticut’s private sector shed 300 jobs in April, but an increase in government employment resulted in an overall gain for the month. Statewide, construction had the single best month-over-month jobs gain at 2.6 percent, while professional and business services declined by 1 percent. Local government added 1,400 jobs for the month, making up for declines in the private sector.
The state’s labor force expanded in April by 4,988 participants to reach a record labor pool of 1,920,837.
“I think that what we have here is a continuation of slow recovery,” said Peter M. Gioia, vice president and economist for the Connecticut Business & Industry Association. “We are seeing the unemployment rate come down slightly while the labor force is expanding, and that’s a good sign.”
Including the government sector, the lower Fairfield County area added an estimated 400 jobs in April, while the Danbury region saw a 700-job increase.
Gioia said the recovery is moving at different speeds across the state.
“Fairfield and New Haven counties are doing OK, and Hartford, but in Norwich and New London, they’re really struggling,” he said. “The recovery isn’t as broad-based as it needs to be, but it is moving.”
April marked the third monthly employment increase in 2015 and the 10th jobs gain in the last 12 months.
Connecticut has now recovered 93,200 positions, or 78.3 percent of the 119,000 jobs that were lost in the state during the last recession. The recovery has added about 1,500 jobs per month since February 2010.
Gioia said state government plays a large role.
“We need to be thinking about what can be done to accelerate the pace of recovery, and hopefully our policymakers in Hartford are thinking about that,” he said. “Jobs and the economy have to be job one.”
Hearst Connecticut Media includes four daily newspapers: Connecticut Post, Greenwich Time, The Advocate (Stamford) and The News-Times (Danbury). See ctpost.com for more from this reporter.
